Vol. 423 No. 2
77 Mr. Ryan asked the Minister for Education if he will make a statement on the administration of the free school book scheme as currently operated; and, given that a large number of applicants for the scheme this year have been refused because of lack of funding, if he will allocate extra funds for this purpose as a matter of urgency as many parents cannot afford to pay for the books and children's education is suffering as a consequence.
The current scheme of aid towards the cost of school textbooks for needy pupils is administered through the principals of the schools, who have discretion in the selection of pupils to be assisted, the amount of assistance to be given to each pupil and the form such assistance will take. This is subject to the amount of money made available annually to each school on the basis of the number of pupils defined as needy.
For the purposes of the scheme, a needy pupil may be defined as a child from a home where genuine hardship exists due to unemployment, prolonged illness of a parent, a large family with inadequate means, a single parent family or other circumstances which would connote a similar degree of domestic financial hardship.
There has been no reduction this year in the moneys allocated for purposes of the scheme.
For the 1993-94 school-year, it is proposed to link the scheme to the Department of Social Welfare back to school clothing and footwear scheme.
